Advertisers Pump Money Into Out-of-Home, Digital Ads in July

Ad spending on out-of-home ads, such as billboards, increased in July, according to data from SMI. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Advertisers in the U.S. increased their spending on out-of-home and digital ads last month, while television ad sales suffered despite events like the U.S. women’s team World Cup victory, according to new data from Standard Media Index.

Overall, ad spending was up 7% in July from a year earlier, marking the largest monthly increase so far this year, according to SMI, which reports on 80% of U.S. ad agency spending.

Out-of-home advertising, such as billboards and transit ads, marked a bright spot in the quarter, notching a 32% increase, the sector’s largest monthly gain year-to-date. But out-of-home advertising still represents a fraction of major marketers’ ad dollars. In July, out-of-home represented just 4.5% of the dollars in the total ad market, according to SMI.

Unlike ad spending for many other traditional media categories, out-of-home ad revenues have steadily increased in recent years. Billboards, transit signs and other outdoor ads benefit from the ability to reach mass audiences that can’t skip over the advertisement. The out-of-home sector has also been helped by the conversion of some boards to digital displays (think Times Square).

In the digital space, ad revenue climbed 28% in July from a year earlier, according to SMI. This growth was driven by a 93% increase in ad spending on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as a 63% increase in ad spending on video sites.

“While TV’s numbers were down slightly, our July results are showing some stabilization at the top end of the TV market,” said SMI Chief Commercial Officer James Fennessy. “The broadcast networks showed a slight uptick, if you discount Univision’s 2014 World Cup revenue. Fox’s performance improved significantly with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, attracting some very significant scatter dollars.”